Chapter 604: The First Snow of the Year

Zheng Zhi had no idea what was going on, but watching the shift in Yu Sheng's expression made him feel that something serious had happened. He didn't dare breathe too loudly, afraid of interrupting Yu Sheng's train of thought.

Yu Sheng himself had already considered all sorts of possibilities in his mind, and then he focused his attention on the street before him.

This was where Zheng Zhi had encountered the 'anomaly' earlier, but now all the abnormal phenomena had faded away. Aside from the street being a bit quiet with fewer pedestrians, there was nothing unusual within sight.

Still, Yu Sheng meticulously inspected the entire area, then extracted a bit of blood to spread a layer of fungal carpet...

He had gotten into the habit—leaving a mark wherever he went felt like a loss otherwise. Every day when he bled himself, he felt the same way: blood was something that regenerated daily, and if he didn't let a little out, he felt uncomfortable all over, as if keeping it in his body was a waste. Sometimes he even thought this habit might be a bit twisted, but when he brought it up with Luna and Ailin, they both said it was being frugal and economical.

As for Huli, she had no objection to it. As long as she got to suck a couple of mouthfuls after he finished bleeding.

Like now.

Huli quickly finished the roasted sweet potato in her hands, then wrapped her arms around Yu Sheng's and sucked noisily. Yu Sheng, meanwhile, looked thoughtfully at his nephew in front of him. "From what you described, everything you encountered were just 'phantoms' projected from another space. The fact that you weren't hurt when that artificial saint stabbed at you at the end is proof. That's clearly different from what we encountered in the dark alley... The 'knights' we saw were real."

Zheng Zhi also pondered. "According to what I overheard, those knights 'fell to this side'..."

"That means this process is somewhat uncontrollable for the Hidden Cult as well," Yu Sheng said with a frown. "Some kind of experimental technology? Or some power or 'artifact' they can't fully control?"

He paused, then turned to look at Huli. "Can you sense anything?"

Huli finally looked up, licked the corner of her mouth with lingering satisfaction, and began to survey the surroundings.

A faint spiritual energy spread around her as the great fox's divine sense swept through the entire block.

After a moment, the fox girl shook her head. "Nothing. It's no different here from anywhere else."

"...Maybe it's related to the 'alien' nature of the dark alley itself, or maybe all of this happens randomly," Yu Sheng said with a light exhale. "Anyway, I'll report what happened here to Bai Liqing first."

...

Because they had spent a lot of time outside, by the time Yu Sheng and Huli returned to 66 Wutong Road, it was almost evening. The cold wind that had been blowing all day gradually calmed down around dusk, but the sky looked even darker. Layer upon layer of leaden clouds piled into dense, impenetrable clumps, hanging low over the city.

As Yu Sheng pushed open the door and entered the living room, he instinctively glanced at the sofa, but didn't see the little doll who usually occupied it at this time.

Then he heard noises coming from the balcony.

Following the sound, Yu Sheng looked up and found himself locking eyes with a string of Ailins hanging on the clothesline.

Five Ailins were neatly suspended in midair, the clothesline threaded through the sleeves of the little dolls in a row, making them look like a string of small flags. The golden-haired one hung right in the middle.

The string of dolls was still swaying in the air. The golden-haired one saw Yu Sheng return and immediately started kicking her little legs. "Yu Sheng! Get me down! C-type latch has no martial virtue—"

Yu Sheng blinked, about to ask what was going on, when he noticed a note pinned to one of the Ailins. It was in Luna's handwriting: "I shouldn't have thrown the Omen Star into the bucket while someone was mopping the floor."

All right. Let her hang.

Yu Sheng completely ignored the string of little things swinging in the wind on the clothesline, spouting a string of low-quality curses. He pulled out his phone and started sending a message to Bai Liqing.

After explaining what Zheng Zhi had encountered and the progress at Blackstone Station, he diverted part of his attention to contact Luo, who was still at Blackstone Station.

Luo was absolutely stunned to hear that someone from the Sacred Hidden Cult might be discussing the Boundary Bridge incident.

"Those lunatics? They don't stay in their lair doing secret rituals and biochemical engineering, and now they're sticking their noses into the Boundary Bridge? What the hell—wait, are they insane?!"

"Do good people join cults?" Yu Sheng said calmly. He could tell that cultists were universally despised, even by extreme groups like the Black Dot Group. "Anyway, we can't confirm yet how they're involved, but it makes logical sense—the Hidden Cult has been studying the power of the Dark Angel and collecting 'Angel Catalysts' all over the world. The Boundary Bridge itself was a Dark Angel... Even if the bridge is gone now, that's enough reason to draw their attention."

"...This is way beyond just 'attention' level. They're clearly about to cause trouble," Luo said, her tone filled with worry. "I smell a project going sideways."

Yu Sheng wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he detected a note of experience in her voice.

"When do you plan to head back to your old base and take a look?" he asked abruptly.

"I've already prepared a shuttle, but I can't leave in the next couple of days. There's a key system here that only I know how to fix. Plus, I don't trust that bunch of so-called 'Astral Scholars' Alvin brought along," Luo said casually, with a hint of grumbling in her tone. "That slacker who couldn't even write a proper thesis back in the day is now a 'master' in his hometown, leading a team and providing interstellar technical support. Watching them wander around Blackstone Station's control hub makes my heart skip a beat..."

Listening to her complaints, Yu Sheng could sympathize to some extent. Though he hadn't had a similar experience, he could imagine—like lying on an operating table, only to see the lead surgeon walk in, and it's your old roommate from college who couldn't even figure out how to anesthetize a rabbit, and you clearly remember that his graduation thesis was something you pieced together from online sources. When you see those eyes, still as innocent as back then, through the surgical mask—wouldn't you feel a chill?

In his own case, Yu Sheng felt that even if he'd been anesthetized, he'd struggle to crawl toward the door...

After finishing arranging things with Luo, Yu Sheng finally let out a sigh of relief. He shifted position on the sofa, leaning back more comfortably, and began thinking about recent events.

The five Ailins hanging on the clothesline swayed back and forth in the corner of his vision, like a row of wind chimes.

Too bad they didn't make any pleasant sounds.

These little things did make noise, but it was more on the raucous side.

"Alright, alright. Let her down," Yu Sheng finally said, unable to stand the chattering any longer. He looked up at Luna, who was standing by the stairwell in standby mode. "You know what Ailin's like. Even if you hang her on a pole for two weeks, she'll do it again next time. 'Clumsy hands' is etched into her bottom code."

Luna finally walked over to let them down, and Yu Sheng came to the balcony to help. They disassembled the clothesline, letting the dolls slide down the pole one by one. Halfway down, Ailin looked up and asked, "Yu Sheng, were you speaking up for me just now?"

"...Yeah."

"Thanks!"

Just as the last Ailin slid off the pole, the corner of Yu Sheng's eye caught a speck of white drifting past the balcony window.

The next second, Huli's excited voice came from the living room: "It's snowing!"

The few Ailins who had just landed on the floor immediately erupted into a chaotic uproar. Some climbed onto the windowsill, some ran to the door, and two instantly scaled Yu Sheng's shoulders, staring wide-eyed out the window. "It's snowing! It's snowing!"

Sparse white snowflakes were drifting down, falling into the dim twilight sky. At first, it was light—scattered flakes melting quickly upon hitting the ground—but almost in the blink of an eye, the snow thickened. The world became a blur, and a heavy snowfall began to slowly blanket the vast Boundary City.

Ailin ran to open the front door—this time, she used two of her selves stacked together to accomplish the feat—and stood at the entrance, facing the swirling snow. A silly grin gradually spread across her face.

Huli also ran outside. Since she was within the coverage of 66 Wutong Road, she took on her fox form and dashed to the open space in front of the door, spinning happily with her arms outstretched.

The fox girl's tail was at least twice as fluffy as it had been in summer. Seen from behind from a distance, she looked like a rolling ball of yarn in the snow.

Yu Sheng casually threw on a jacket and stepped outside with Luna. He saw Huli, with her white hair, red eyes, and fluffy form, running around in the snow, catching snowflakes with her hands.

Then he looked toward the small building with the logistics point sign not far away, just in time to see Zheng Zhi pushing the door open and coming out. A wisp of warm air drifted out from inside.

"Brother Yu, want to come eat hotpot!" Zheng Zhi waved cheerfully.

Before Yu Sheng could answer, Huli, who had been spinning in the snow, snapped her head around. Drool immediately started pooling in her mouth...

Her many tails began wagging furiously, making people dizzy just to look at.

Yu Sheng looked at Huli, then at Zheng Zhi, and thought for a moment. "I'm thinking you guys won't have enough to eat."

But then he changed his tone. "Wait a bit—I'll go to the Special Operations Division cafeteria and snag some meatballs, sliced meat, and frozen tofu..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Luna spoke up beside him. "I'll go back to the valley and pick some greens."

Seeing that everyone seemed to have something to do, Ailin, standing at Yu Sheng's feet, immediately started thinking. The Omen Star circled round and round above one of the little dolls' heads, then suddenly stopped—as if a lightbulb had popped up above a cartoon character's head, complete with a "ding" sound.

When Yu Sheng saw that, his alarm bells instantly went off. He pointed at the little doll. "If you dare throw that thing into the pot, I'll hang you from the roof!"